1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to document management, and more specifically to techniques of identifying documents in a digitally stored collection and specifying actions to execute on the documents.
2. Background of the Invention
Despite the ideal of a paperless environment that the popularization of computers had promised, paper continues to dominate the office landscape. Ironically, the computer itself has been a major contributing source of paper proliferation. The computer simplifies the task of document composition, and thus has enabled even greater numbers of publishers. Oftentimes, many copies of a document must be made so that the document can be shared among colleagues, thus generating even more paper.
Despite advances in technology, practical substitutes for paper remain to be developed. Computer displays, PDAs (personal digital assistants), wireless devices, and the like all have their various advantages, but they lack the simplicity, reliability, portability, relative permanence, universality, and familiarity of paper. In many situations, paper remains the simplest and most effective way to store and distribute information.
The conveniences and advantages that paper offers signal that its complete replacement is not likely to occur soon, if ever. Perhaps then, the role of the computer is not to achieve a paperless society. Instead, the role of the computer may be as a tool to move effortlessly between paper and electronic representations and maintain connections between the paper and the electronic media with which it was created.
Related, commonly owned, above-referenced patent application Ser. Nos. 10/404,916 and 10/404,927 describe techniques for organizing multimedia documents into one or more collections. A collection coversheet, or document index, representative of the collection can be printed on a suitable medium, such as paper. This coversheet can provide access to the collection by using a multi-function peripheral (MFP). In this way, individuals can share the multimedia documents in the collection by distributing copies of the coversheet to recipients.
Most prior methods to interact with digitally stored documents require the user to enter commands by typing or pressing buttons on hardware or selecting options from displayed menus on the MFP or on a computer. These systems require the user to interact with the hardware and/or navigate menu options and other user interface features on a display device. Some existing paper-based systems require specialized coversheets to provide processing instructions. For example, a coversheet may be used at the beginning of the print job to specify the number of copies, the size of the paper, etc. These systems require a supply of these coversheets to be kept on hand, and usually require the user to take the time to customize the sheet by filling in the details of the job.
The FlowPort system of Xerox provides three different types of paper interfaces. A FlowPort Cover Sheet provides instructions to a scanning system, a Document Token stands in place of a single multi-page document, and a Document Catalog having a linear list of file names can be used to select more than one document using a single sheet of paper. The FlowPort Cover Sheet is a list of destinations and categories. The Cover Sheet can be used to indicate how to route the documents that follow. The document might be e-mailed, faxed, printed, or categorized. Each of the destinations on the Cover Sheet has the appropriate fax number, e-mail address, or printer address associated with it in advance. Cover Sheets are placed on the top of documents, Document Tokens, or Document Catalogs before scanning. The Cover Sheet must be created at the computer and not generated at a multi-function peripheral (MFP). The FlowPort Document Token is a document token representing a single multi-page document. A thumbnail of the first page of the document is displayed as well as the document's machine readable index into the local Xerox DocuShare database. The Token page can be used as a stand-in for a document that already exists in the DocuShare database. The FlowPort Document Catalog is a page containing a linear list of names of documents stored in a DocuShare repository. The check box next to the document name allows the user to select some of the documents in the catalog to be routed using a Cover Sheet. Each Document Catalog has a machine readable index to the collection of documents.
Each FlowPort operation requires at least two sheets of paper, including one generated by a desktop computer. That is, with FlowPort, the Cover Sheet is generated at a computer. The user starts by specifying destinations and creating categories and prints out the task-specific Cover Sheet. This Cover Sheet can be placed on top of a Document Token or a Document Catalog. All the documents represented by the token or selected by check mark on the catalog are routed as indicated on the Cover Sheet.
Xerox Research Centre Europe Project KnowledgePump allows researchers to exchange, discuss, and recommend documents in web pages. KnowledgePump permits the addition of comments and the classification of documents using Cover Sheets. Each Cover Sheet includes a thumbnail of the first page of the document, an index to its electronic counterpart, and space for handwritten notes. Check boxes are provided for ranking and classification of the document. For instance, a user can mark the “very interesting” box if the article is found to be useful and interesting. When the Cover Sheet is scanned, if check boxes are marked, the database entry for that document is updated to reflect the selections indicated by the user.
What is needed is a system and method for providing instructions for processing documents without requiring users to interact with a user interface or hardware device. What is further needed is a system and method that avoids the limitations of prior art schemes for providing instructions for processing stored documents.